Australia's leading seafood authority John Susman is excited that the oyster industry is evolving the same way as winemaking.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
"I think 15 years ago the only difference in oysters was Kilpatrick and mornay.
"Now we have by species, by region, even sub-region, by season and even by grower."
He is well placed to make the comparison because his family grew "generic red and white grapes" in the Barossa Valley "but now oyster farmers have proprietary control over their own brand".
READ ALSO:
Has the world's leading chefs' phone numbers
His long career of catching, processing, selling, marketing and eating seafood professionally began when he was a scallop diver at Port Lincoln in August 1985.
It was 11 degrees and he and his friend spent seven hours diving for scallops for which they received a paltry sum.
Mr Susman decided to take the beautiful scallops to Sydney where he knocked on the doors of the emerging next generation of chefs - Tony Bilson, Neil Perry, Damien Pignolet, Matt Moran and Guillaume Brahimi,
"I was in the right place at the right time with a great product. Sydney and Melbourne had been at the forefront of world cuisine for some time," he said.
It wasn't too long before he started a distribution business, The Flying Squid Brothers, Australia's first water to plate operation, supplying Australia's top 300 restaurants, then expanding to Asia, Europe and beyond.
"That is how my Teledex became full" with phone numbers of the world's leading chefs.
Taking rock oysters to the world
Mr Susman took great pride in introducing rock oysters as a signature dish of Australia to chefs around the world.
Describing it as a really easy door opener everywhere he goes, "even putting a rock oyster in a chef's mouth to understand we have an amazing culinary culture".
From the very beginning Mr Susman has been totally committed to "providing a transparent line of sight between fisherman and consumer, this thing that is the provenance of food".
Fresh from chairing the panel of judges at the Sydney Royal Aquaculture Show in April, Mr Susman will be MC of Narooma Oyster Festival's shucking competition.
When asked why there are separate shucking competitions for men and women he responded that the "cohort of shuckers is definitely skewered to male".
There is considerable eye/hand coordination involved in shucking and there is a slight difference in the times between men and women.
"I'm not sure why and it isn't a big difference but there is a difference," he said.
Love your regional news? Then sign up for the Voice of Real Australia, daily news from across the country delivered free to your inbox
Twice weekly
Voice of Real Australia
Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over.
